Art of preparing disintegrated materials for packing.



W. A. LORENZ & J. MERRITT.

ART OF PREPARING DISINTEGRATED MATERIALS FOB. PACKING.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 10 1913.

Patented June 9, 1914.

fiwmir m. /V// la /I 7 9 an a a A 60 v w 5 \m%% .mv K

WILLIAM A. LORENZ AND JOSEPH MEBRITT, F HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

ART or PREPARING msm'rncnn'rnp MATERIALS FOR PACKING.

ocasm.

. t Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed July 10, 1913. Serial F0. 778,310.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that W6,WILLIAM A. LORENZ and JosErH MnB-Rrr'r, citizens of the United States, residing at Hartford, in' the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Art of Preparing Disintegrated Materials for Packing, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of manipulating materials which are dispensed in a disintegrated or ground state in closed receptacles, such materials, for instance, as cereals and analogous seeds, and more especially those oleaginous and farinaceous food seeds which due to the contained oil or water are more or less plastic or pasty when ground.

Many kinds of seeds, cereals and other materials are ground or disintegrated and packed into receptacles which are subsequently sealed. When handled by the methods in common use more or less air remains in the interstices between the particles and occupies space in and detracts.

from the appearance and qualityof the product in the receptacle into which it is packed. I

If the material is powdered 0r granular, a

quantity, whichapparently ,filled a recep tacle, would subsequently settle and give the appearance of short measure. material is pastyv the ,air often takes the form of gas bubbles, which are particularly unsightly if the product is packed 'in glass jars. Such air in the receptacles is also undesirable on account of its' effect on the product, and its interference with adequate hermetical sealing. It is a troublesome operation and an item of expense to extract the air after the product has been placed in the receptacle, and before it is sealed.

The object of this invention is to prov1de such a method of treating these materials, especially seeds and cereals, that the product will be delivered in a condensed condition suitable for immediate packing and hermetical scaling in the deslred receptacles. In attaining this end the materials to be operated upon, with or wlthout other substances, are fed to a grinding or disintegrating machine from whlch by suitable means, air is exhausted during the operation of the machine, so that practically all of the free air will be withdrawn from the If the interstices between the particles, leaving the product condensed and without air bubbles as it is delivered from the apparatus.

The accompanying drawing shows a cen- Patented June 9, 1914.

tral vertical section of 'a' form of machine by whichthe process may be carried on.

The machine illustrated, which is more particularly designed for grinding seeds, has a hopper 1, the bottom or outlet from which is provided with a gate 2. This hopper is mounted on and its outlet communicates with the transfer chamber 3, the

bottom or outlet from which is provided wlth a gate 4. The transfer chamber is mounted on and communicates with the feed chamber 5 of the grinding machine. Thefeed chamber opens into the interior of the grinder cylinder 6, which has fixed spiral feeding ribs 7 of common form, and a fixed grinding plate 8 at the discharge end. The

spindle 9, which has a driving pulley 10,

is suitably packed where it passes through the end of the cylinder. On the spindle, and cooperating with the fixed feeding ribs,

is the rotatory feeding screw 11, also the rotatory grinding disk 12, which cooperates with the fixed plate 8 for grinding or disintegrating the material to the desired devree. At the front end of the grinder cylinder is a discharge spout 13 of desired sha e.

The machine illustrated is provided with means for sup-plying to the material to be ground, other substances, such for instance as a condiment. There is a feed screw 14;,

on a suitably packed pulley spindle 15, which I leads from the bottom of a feed box 16 to the interior of'the feed chamber 5. Above the feed box is a transfer chamber 17, the

opening between these being provided with a gate 18. On the transfer chamber is a hopper 19, the discharge from which is rovided with a gate 20.- The feed chamr 5 and feed box 16 are connected by a pipe 21 which is intended to .be connected with any common type of air exhaust pump; and the transfer chamber 3 and transfer chamber 17 are connected with a pipe 22, that is intended to be connected with the air pump. The pipe 22 is provided with a stop cook 23. i p

In practising the process with such an apparatus as that illustrated, the feed screws are rotated and air is constantly pumped from the feed chamber and the feed box.

feeding the disintegrate Exhausting the air from the feed chamber 5 causes the air to be pulled out of the grinding cylinder 6 from as far as there are any interstices between the particles being ground, that is, from the locality where the product is so condensed that it contains little or no free air.

.The supply of stock for the grinder is replenished so that the operation may be continuous, by, at intervals, closing the lower gates and the air cock, then opening the upper gates and allowing the materials to flow from the hoppers to the transfer chambers, after which the upper gates are closed and the lower gates and cook opened, so the material will be admitted to the feed chamber and .the feed box, and air will again be withdrawn from the transfer chambers. In this manner the grinding may be continued without interruption indefinitely and all the product forced out of the spout suitably condensed and without containing any substantial amount of free air, particularly if the product is plastic as a result of constituent water or oil in the material ground or disintegrated. The product which is dis-, charged in this manner is in a very desirable condition to be immediately packed into receptacles, and those receptacles may be covered and hermetically sealed without difficulty.

The invention claimed is:

1. The method of preparing food seeds for market which consists in disintegrating said seeds, withdrawing the free air from the seeds while they are being1 disintegrated, and

product with the free air withdrawn to a packing receptacle.

2; The method of preparing food seeds for market which consists in feeding the seeds to a grinder, withdrawing the free air from the seeds while being thus fed to the grinder, and feeding the disintegrated product with the free air withdrawn to a packing receptacle.

3. The method of preparing food seeds for market which consists in feeding the seeds to a grinder, simultaneously withdrawing the free air from the seeds being fed and being ground, and feeding the disintegrated product with the free air withdrawn to a packing receptacle.

4. The method of preparing food seeds for market which consists in feeding the seeds to be ground, feeding thereto another substance, grinding together the mixed seeds and other substance, withdrawing the free air from said mixture while being ground,

and feeding the disintegrated product with Y the free air removed to a packing receptacle. 5. The method of preparing food seeds for market which consists in forcibly feeding the seeds to a disintegrator and reducing the seeds to a plastic mass, simultaneously withdrawing free air from the material being thus operated upon, and feeding the disintegrated product with the free air withdrawn to a packing receptacle.

6. The method of preparing a food for marketing which consists in feeding oleaginous seeds and a condiment to a disintegrator and simultaneously extracting the free air therefrom, thereby. producing a condensed substantially air free plastic compound, and feeiling the said product to a packing receptac e. i

7. The method of preparing oleaginous seeds for market which consists in simultaneously disintegrating said seeds and withdrawing the free air therefrom, and feeding the product to a packing receptacle.

WILLIAM A. LORENZ. JOSEPH MERRITT. Witnesses:

NELLIE PHOENJIX,/ CAROLINE M. BRECKLE. 

